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Introduction Diagnosis Parts Needed Official Versus Unofficial Procedure Gaining Access to the Accumulator Removal of Old Accumulator & Attachment of New One
Introduction
The Range Rover ABS and Traction Control system is second to none. Originally designed by WABCO, a major manufacturor of heavy truck braking systems, it accounts for much of the Range Rover's superiority over lesser vehicles. The flip side is that it is fairly complex and like most Range Rover systems, not immune to failure. Aside from ABS sensor misalignment, by far the most common problem is the wearing out of the ABS accumulator that sits on top of the ABS pump and acts like a battery to hold a charge of high pressure brake fluid in the system ready for action. The accumulator is essentially a compressed air tank with a flexible rubber diaphragm at the bottom; the ABS pump compresses the air inside the accumulator to provide a store of hydraulic pressure energy for the ABS and traction control systems. As noted in ABS Pump and Accumulator Diagnostics, if your pump runs too long (more than about 45 seconds) after engine startup, the most likely (but not only possible) problem is the accumulator developing a slight leak. In the early days when ther was a problem with the system the dealer would replace the entire pump and accumulator as a ($1,000) unit; in latter days the accumulator became available as a separate part and the repair became much easier and less expensive. The following illustrated description of the accumulator replacement operation was kindly provided by Dan Czarniak who performed the operation on his lat model Bosch-engined Range Rover P38 in 2008. The procedure for earlier (GEMS) P38s is exactly the same. I think the procedure for the 1992 and up Classic Range Rovers and 2003 and up Range Rover models is also similar. They introduced the awesome Wabco system, generations ahead of what other makes offered, to the Range Rover family, and you will notice the Wabco label on the new parts sourced by Dan.
Diagnosis
Replacing the ABS Accumulator was an easy one. The potential problem is that you might not know that you need a new one. Whenever I started my vehicle, I was used to the sound of the EAS pump or so I thought. As it turns out, the EAS pump and the ABS pump are very close to each other. So, in truth, I dont know what I was used to hearing, but the sound was familiar just the same.
One day a guy who is an accomplished LR mechanic visited (Dennis Altman), though not for the purpose of fixing my RR. In the spirit in taking advantage of a friends good nature, I started my P38 and opened the hood, and asked him to tell me if he sensed anything noteworthy. Hear that sound? Its your ABS pump. It should be done running by now. You need a new ABS accumulator, he said. The sound was one of the pump sounds to which I had become accustomed. Replacing it is easy, he said. Coming from a mechanic, those words are better than May God have mercy on your soul, but it only means that replacing it would be easy for him. Those words did not necessarily bode well for me.
Parts Needed
I figured that continuing to place an undue burden upon the ABS pump would lead to the pumps undoing. And a new ABS Pump would be expensive. So I searched around online and bought a new ABS Accumulator in a hurry. The best price I could find for an OEM one was about $ 210 (US), plus shipping. The Part Number is: STC2784. There is no cheaper alternative equivalent to the OEM ABS accumulator that I am aware of. (As of July, 2008). The accumulator is a little bigger than a baseball, but weighs maybe 2.5 lbs.
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Brand new accumulator with packaging; not the O ring that is needed for the correct seal.
skin of the accumulator. I wouldnt worry too much about the accumulator blowing up. To come at it from the other direction, I doubt that you could get it to blow up. When I removed my old ABS Accumulators, there was no fssst sound or squirt of brake fluid or anything of the sort. It was remarkably uneventful.
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Digsby IM, Email, and Social Networks in one easy to use application! http://digsby.com I could not remove the old accumulator by hand. A strap wrench wouldnt do it either. (If I live long enough, one day a strap wrench will surprise me by actually showing itself to be good for something). A metal oil filter wrench did the trick. I then saw why I would not have to bleed the brakes: the brake fluid was filled completely to the top already! No need to even top it off (see photos below).
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I put some brake fluid on the o-ring on the new one and screwed the new accumulator into place by hand.
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Photos showing installation of new O-ring seal (provided with new accumulator) prior to installing the unit. When it was all the way in, I realized that the manual does not provide any information as to how tightly it should be attached. (no torque value or anything to that effect). I think that How tight? is a fair question to ask. I decided upon pretty tight. I went as tight as I could by hand, put the oil filter wrench on it and tightened it just a smidgen. Just enough so that I saw that it had moved. That was how I defined pretty tight.
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